Kercseliget (german: Gertsleck or ; hr, Karčalinj) is a village in

Somogy County Somogy ( hu, Somogy megye, ; hr, Šomođska županija; sl, Šomodska županija, german: Komitat Schomodei) is an administrative county (comitatus or ''megye'') in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary. Somogy County lies ...

, southern

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. The settlement is part of the

Balatonboglár wine region The Balatonboglár wine region, also known as the South Balaton wine region, is the only one wine region in Somogy County, Hungary. The area consists of 37 settlements, mainly located on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, but also some near Kapo ...

. A Balatonboglári borvidék hegyközségi tanácsának alapszabálya (PDF)
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Etymology

There are two theories about the name of the settlement. According to the first one the German residents started to call their village ''Gartenchen'' and ''Parkchen'' which were translated into Hungarian as ''kertecske'' ( en, tiny garden) and ''ligetecske'' ( en, tiny park). According to other sources the name derives from the Hungarian person name ''Kercse'' which was added to the second part of the name of the village (''liget'') which means ''park'' in Hungarian.

Geography

It lies at the meeting point of the three counties: Tolna,

Baranya Baranya or Baranja may refer to: * Baranya (region) or Baranja, a region in Hungary and Croatia * Baranya County, a county in modern Hungary * Baranya County (former), a county in the historic Kingdom of Hungary * Baranya, Hungarian name of villag ...

and Somogy.

History

It was first mentioned in 1332 without a name. During the Turkish occupation it became uninhabited. In the 18th century Kristóf Nitzky bought the land and invited the Roman Catholic German settlers to Kercseliget. The ''Madarász'' and

Hunyadi family The Hunyadi family was one of the most powerful Hungarian nobility, noble families in the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th century. A member of the family, Matthias Corvinus, was King of Hungary from 1458 until 1490, King of Bohemia (ruli ...

acquired lands there during that time. Later in 1859 the ''Maár'' and

Pallavicini The House of Pallavicini, also known as Pallavicino and formerly known as Pelavicino, is an ancient Italian noble family founded by Oberto II ''Pelavicino'' of the Frankish Obertenghi family. The Pallavicini of Genoa The first recorded member o ...

families had land near the settlement. Early Kercseliget had a developed industry with a brick factory and weekly market.

Main sights

* ''Maár Mansion'' (built at the beginning of the 19th century in

Classicist style Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...

) * Roman Catholic Church (built in 1770, rebuilt in 1895) * ''Maár Chateau'' in ''Bükkpuszta'' (part of Kercseliget) * ''Kercseligeti Gyöngyszemek''

Gypsie The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with si ...

folklore band of the village * ''Traditional Choir of Kercseliget''

External links

Street map (Hungarian)

References

Populated places in Somogy County {{Somogy-geo-stub